A prior commonly assigned copending U.S. patent application of Coleman, Hallcher and McMackins, Ser. No. 222,200, filed Jan. 2, 1981 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,317, describes a procedure to react butadiene and acetic acid with metal ion oxidant to prepare acetoxyhexenoic acids which are then converted to sorbic acid. A. U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,089, describes a procedure for reacting olefins and acetic acid with metal ion oxidant to produce lactones. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,022,822 and 4,158,741 have described procedures for converting .gamma.-vinyl-.gamma.-butyrolactone to sorbic acid. A prior commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 222,199, of Coleman, Hallcher and McMackins, filed Jan. 2, 1981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,650 describes a procedure for converting acetoxyhexenoic acids to .gamma.-vinyl-.gamma.-butyrolactone.